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Extreme Right / Radical Right / Far Right

Extreme Right

The term “extreme right” is used to describe right-wing political, social and religious movements that exist outside of and are more radical than mainstream conservatism. In the United States, the extreme right consists primarily of two large, slightly overlapping spheres. In one sphere is the white supremacist movement, including its various submovements, such as neo-Nazis, racist skinheads, and the alt right, among others. In the other sphere are anti-government extremist movements such as the militia movement and sovereign citizens (collectively, this sphere is often referred to as the “Patriot” movement). Also in the extreme right are several “single-issue” movements, which each tend to be the extreme wing of a more mainstream conservative movement; these include anti-abortion extremists, anti-immigrant extremists, anti-Muslim extremists, and anti-public lands extremists, among others.

Radical Right

See Extreme Right; the terms are synonymous.

Far Right

See Extreme Right; the terms are mostly synonymous. However, because some people use the term “far right” to also incorporate some aspects of mainstream conservatism, the term is more vague than extreme right or radical right and thus is not preferred.